Looking at the Recipe Box

I am my mother. I never thought in a million years that I’d come to that conclusion but here we are. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been sorting through my recipe boxes. Yes, I have two stuffed to the bursting point boxes of recipes. Some of the recipes date back to B.C. (before children) or even pre-B.C. (before Betty Crocker)! It has been my mission to wade through the contents and toss any that are horrible. Now I have to confess that a good portion of these were part of a 9th grade Home Economics project that involved collecting recipes and putting them into a card box. I was not selective. It was one of those boring and in my 9th grade mind pointless activities. I did exactly what was required to receive an A. Thus I have in this file a couple of recipes that I will never in 10,000 years ever make or eat if someone else makes. The funny thing is that my mother gave me a fist full of newspaper clippings and recipes that she had collected and never used for this… so we have 2 generations of dishes that no one wants to eat.

Curried carrots
Pickled tongue
Creamed turnips
I’ve come undone
Barbecue hotdogs
Celery jello
Asparagus flan
I’ll just say no!
Green olive soup
Fennel bread
Vinegar pie
I’m better off dead

I hope you enjoyed the list poem (with a touch of rhyme), I’ve tossed the above recipes. The asparagus flan was a weird and disgusting recipe. Just imagine for a moment making a fruit flan but substituting asparagus in place of apricots. Yeah, there is no point in keeping that one! I did however keep the recipe for “Cherry Fluff” that my Grandma Tena gave me. She went through a phase in the late 1970s when she made and served this dessert at every get together. I’m not sure why but it was a favorite, however I usually make it with black cherry jello.

Pink Fluff
Ingredients:
1 large package of cherry jello
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can fruit cocktail drained well
16 oz. cool whip
1 c. chopped pecans

Mix together pie filling, jello, and fruit cocktail. Fold in cool whip until it is a uniform pink. Refrigerate. Sprinkle nuts on top and serve well chilled.